Yeah, that sounds about right...tailors...sometimes I wonder why they don't point the obvious out?...I'm sure it won't affect the waist fit either...<sigh>...I go back to that tailor much too often...he's an older man with a lot of preset ideas...time to search for another one...

Nope. Looks pretty bad to wear a suit with shoes that are too much lighter. I've done it. Draws too much attention to itself. It sort of looks like you've just bought your first pair of good shoes, and you want people to notice them.

I've another one:

Let's take the "GQ/J. Crew" to task here -- no big plaid casual shirts with worsted suit (generally light gray and too tight) and tie (almost always satin, skinny, and encumbered with a tie bar placed too high). I'll wear madras under my navy blazer or cotton poplin, of course, but only when it's like 85 degrees and I'm dressing very casually.

I agree with this, but it's so pervasive in "fashion" now that I don't think it can go on the list. Kiton is another offender in this respect.

Well, I think you can wear a plaid shirt with a tweed or corduroy jacket (like Woody Allen does in Annie Hall), and if you were to add a dark knit tie, then you're alright. I'm willing to add the occasional knit to the madras-and-jacket rig, too. Wool or raw silk solids (depending on season) could even work.

It's when the formality levels get all screwed up* that it starts to bug me. You end up looking like an extra on Mad Men who somehow got given a sport shirt by accident.

*I concede that my viewpoint on this is skewed, since I allow for a navy blazer. My milleu growing up was just preppy enough that I kind of regard a navy blazer as outside of formality. That is, I'd have no problem wearing one with a polo shirt and khakis if the weather demands it, because it's just sort of there.

I'm hoping for a centralized thread to which we can refer n00bz who commit some egregious offense against traditional menswear. This can be used as a reference whenever somebody says, "what's wrong with black shirts?!?" Here's what I've got so far: